Ferndale Judge Joseph Longo spent his first full day back on the job Wednesday after surviving what nearly became a medical death sentence five months ago.

“I’m on cloud nine today,” said Longo, 58. “This has been a humbling experience but I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.”

The Ferndale 43rd District judge, now 80 pounds lighter, developed a Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection back in October after he scratched his wrist on a thorn bush while doing some home landscaping.

The scratch didn’t seem like much at the time.

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“I didn’t even put a Band Aid on it,” he recalled. “When it started to hurt I just thought it was some arthritis. A doctor gave me a cortisone injection and then the infection took off like a bandit.”

The infection flared in the judge’s right hand and lower arm.

Eventually Longo ended up at the Detroit Medical Center and the infection caused multiple organ failure. He immediately underwent the first of six surgeries on his hand and arm.

“I was real close to death,” he said. “I spent two months in the intensive care unit in a medically induced coma.”

Doctors had to cut a hole in Longo’s throat to insert a ventilator tube, put a feeding tube in his stomach and arranged for dialysis because his kidneys shut down. He also suffered from pneumonia.

“Thankfully, I don’t remember any of it,” he said. “It was around Christmas by the time I came out of the coma.”

By then he was unable to walk because of all the time he had spent immobilized. Longo spent another month doing physical and occupational therapy at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.

His physical therapy is continuing on an out-patient basis.

The surgeries to remove dead tissue from his right hand mean he is using his left hand for writing, eating and other daily tasks for now.

Longo also has to use a walker and wheelchair to get around, but is fully expected to be able to walk on his own in a few more months as his muscle strength continues to improve.

Longo was able to return home in January and began doing some court office work after that, he said.

“I’ve spent the last couple of weeks coming into the office, getting my feet wet for my first full day back,” he said. “But the two other 43rd District judges and visiting judges did the cases for me and everything is up to date.”

Ferndale’s courthouse has been undergoing a massive renovation since last year. The work is expected to be completed sometime around June.

“Fifteen years ago I dreamed of what the courthouse could be,” he said. “Because of all this I missed a good part of the construction.”

Being back at work is a tonic and Longo expects to regain his full physical abilities as the courthouse is fully renovated and opens this summer.

“I came back with more appreciation for the job I’m doing,” he said. “It made me realize even more that what I do is important and you have to stay on top of it.”